When Artur Beterbiev faced Dmitry Bivol on October 12 of last year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, their convergence marked an inflection point for the fighters’ careers, for the light heavyweight division and for boxing. The Russian countrymen each represented the other’s most formidable opponent to date, in a bout to crown the first undisputed champion the division has known in the ‘four-belt era’ – two no-nonsense, virtually non-English-speaking anti-hype machines content to step wordlessly through the ropes to determine which of them possessed the superior skill, vigor, fortitude and sand. It was a purist’s dream.
On Saturday, back in Riyadh and with all other circumstances mirroring their first meeting, Beterbiev – the champion – and Bivol, his challenger, are set to rematch. And … why, exactly? If their first battle – a hard-fought majority decision for Beterbiev – was an unalloyed distillation of combat competition, free from loose ends or controversy, what purpose would it serve either fighter, or boxing, to run it back?
The simple, cynical answer also happens to ring true: money. There is a lot of it to be made in Saturday’s bout, and, after all, these men are prizefighters. And because, at this moment, each is the other’s most compelling and lucrative available opponent, the show was bound to go on.
Yet neither could have been blamed, or found his bank account wanting, for going another route. Beterbiev is 40, has endured a career’s worth of injuries and physical maladies beyond a typical toll of the ring, and he has never regarded the sport as some sort of proving ground or avatar of a higher purpose. To Beterbiev, it’s a vocation. He may be the Warren Buffet, Winston Wolf and Keyser Söze of boxing, but it’s a gig nonetheless.
Bivol has proven himself to be one of the most masterful boxers of his time, having turned back an array of good-to-excellent opponents – including Sullivan Barrera, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez – before ever pointing his boots toward Beterbiev. His reasoning for a rematch is self-evident, but he would hardly be the first fighter, particularly at this stage of his career, to take a pass on a bone-grinding challenge in favor of something that might spare him another layer of scar tissue and a bladder full of blood.
Yet here they stand. What is hard to figure is how much has changed since the fighters’ first meeting. Only 133 days separate that fight from Saturday’s rematch. Beterbiev, now a quadragenarian, is at risk of boxing’s proverbial overnight aging, but his bum knee held up back in October and he would seem to be as healthy as ever – or at least as healthy as he could be at this late stage – in the hours leading up to Saturday’s main event. Bivol promises to be more active this time around, after possibly losing a round here and there to passivity in the first Beterbiev fight.
Whether either is capable of changing his stripes at such late hours in their careers is up for debate, but there are subtle changes in approach that each can, should and likely have considered in the lead-up to the rematch.
Beterbiev, 21-0 (20 KOs), has discussed with trainer Marc Ramsay small adjustments – more movement and body work, for instance. And both, in theory, would seem to be wise accommodations. Further removed from the knee injury that caused his initial first fight date with Bivol to be postponed, Beterbiev should be more confident, and perhaps more nimble, on his feet in the rematch. After stopping all of his previous opponents, Beterbiev was dragged the distance for the first time, and was pushed and punished by Bivol in October to an extent he had never experienced before. Rather than walking (or simply standing) through Bivol’s underrated cumulative power, Beterbiev would find discretion at age 40 to be the better part of valor.
For Bivol, 23-1 (12 KOs), any potential adjustments should be obvious – yet they also come with great risk. A patient, jab-driven, stand-up style has served Bivol exceptionally well over his career, even in the pros. Still, his signature win – a 2022 unanimous decision breakdown of Alvarez – featured a more aggressive, more viciously calculating Bivol. Breaking down Canelo’s defenses, walking him down, sitting down on his punches and letting his hands go, Bivol showed a sinister side that left Alvarez lumpy, frustrated and defeated. Can he channel it again for Beterbiev – and, by opening himself up more in the process, avoid getting sparked?
It’s impossible to know until watching it unfold before our eyes. These are immaculately matched fighters, as the first fight proved and as the rematch figures to reaffirm. Four months is a short turnaround for a fighter of Beterbiev’s vintage – though only by our modern standard. If he is indeed healthy and has suffered no lasting ill effects from their previous fight, his power and fight IQ should make him the favorite inside a boxing ring against living human weighing 175lbs or less. Bivol, by shedding his traditionally conservative form and throwing caution and self-preservation to the wind, could throw Beterbiev for just enough of a loop to land a defining blow that turns the fight. But those are a lot of sliding doors. Could they align? Does Bivol have the mettle to walk through them? I have no doubt. But if he stumbles, mistimes or takes any false step on his way to taking control of the fight, it will mean falling into the woodchipper of Beterbiev’s power. If you’ve seen “Fargo,” you know the woodchipper usually wins.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
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